Tiger Tales

October 18, 1997|By JAVIER SOLANO

TIGER WOODS' SCORE: 1-under-par 71 at Lake Buena Vista for a two-day total of 137, six strokes behind leader Payne Stewart. HIGHLIGHTS: Starting from the 10th tee, Woods birdied four consecutive holes to close the back nine and the final two on the front. He lost two balls at No. 1, hitting the tee ball into the water and his third shot out of bounds, but still got up and down for bogey. Nice, except No. 1 is rated the fourth-easiest hole in the tournament.

- LOWLIGHTS: Whatever momentum Woods had from his birdie-birdie finish for 66 Thursday derailed on his first three holes, hitting long into each green. Woods three-putted twice for bogeys and played the par 5s at 1 under.

- PLAYING-PARTNER COMMENTS: Armen Boyagian, 72, in his 17th Disney/Oldsmobile Classic, holed a 30-foot birdie on No. 4 on the way to a front-nine 38. Woods, staring at 15 feet for his own birdie, playfully offered his putt to Boyagian. ''My guys at home, they owe me,'' said Boyagian, of Livonia, Mich. ''They think I'm a sandbagger.''

- ENTOURAGE: About 100 spectators greeted Woods at the driving range at 8:30 a.m. By the time he finished the round, the crowd surrounding the ninth green had swelled to 2,000. The entourage included 16 marshals, four Disney cops, an Orange County sheriff's deputy and an FBI agent. They mostly told folks to put away their cameras. Reminder: No photography on the course.

- FAN'S COMMENT: Ellie Lewis Jr., who works at Doral Resort and Country Club in Miami, drove with his girlfriend, Stella Martin, just to see Woods play. Lewis was impressed with Woods' scramble for bogey at No. 1: ''That is the best bogey I've seen anywhere. That's like a birdie to me.''

- ETC.: Whereas Woods was almost mechanically accurate on Thursday, hitting 17 greens in regulation, he struggled reading distances Friday, missing five greens and four fairways. He finished with a round of six birdies and five bogeys. ''I know I'll need a low one (round) tomorrow,'' he said.